Midea Group Co is preparing to take investor orders as soon as next week for its share sale in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, in what is set to be the biggest listing by a Chinese company in two years. 

The Foshan-based appliance maker aims to raise about US$4 billion in Hong Kong, the people said. That represents roughly 6% of its market value in Shenzhen, where its shares already trade. Midea is considering pricing the shares at a discount of as much as 20% to its Shenzhen stock, one of the people said. 

Cornerstone investors, who agree to keep shares for a certain period of time in exchange for a set allocation, could snap up about US$1 billion in Midea stock, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. 

Midea started gauging investor interest this week, according to terms seen by Bloomberg News on Monday. China International Capital Corp and Bank of America Corp are joint sponsors of the offering. 

The size, structure and timing of the deal may change, the people said. 

Representatives of Midea declined to comment. 

IFR also reported on Thursday that Midea is planning to open books for the listing next week. 

At the targeted size, Midea’s offering would be the biggest Chinese listing since state-owned oil-and-gas producer Cnooc Ltd raised US$5 billion in April 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It would also be a welcome boost for Hong Kong, where only US$2.5 billion has been raised in initial public offerings this year, compared with more than US$50 billion in 2020.  

Hong Kong hasn’t hosted a listing that’s raised more than US$1 billion since battery supplier CALB Group Co’s share sale in the financial hub in 2022.

Midea, founded in 1968, is China’s largest home-appliance maker. The company, which sells under brands including Midea, Comfee, Eureka and Little Swan, acquired Toshiba Corp’s home-appliance business in 2016 and also owns German robotics firm Kuka AG.

Midea’s first-half net income rose 14% from a year earlier to 20.80 billion yuan , beating analyst estimates. Revenue rose 10% to about 217 billion yuan. Its shares have climbed about 17% this year in Shenzhen. 

  - Bloomberg